from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
expert system
<artificial intelligence> A computer program that contains a
{knowledge base} and a set of {algorithms} or rules that infer
new facts from knowledge and from incoming data.
An expert system is an {artificial intelligence} application
that uses a knowledge base of human expertise to aid in
solving problems. The degree of problem solving is based on
the quality of the data and rules obtained from the human
expert. Expert systems are designed to perform at a human
expert level. In practice, they will perform both well below
and well above that of an individual expert.
The expert system derives its answers by running the knowledge
base through an {inference engine}, a software program that
interacts with the user and processes the results from the
rules and data in the knowledge base.
Expert systems are used in applications such as medical
diagnosis, equipment repair, investment analysis, financial,
estate and insurance planning, route scheduling for delivery
vehicles, contract bidding, counseling for self-service
customers, production control and training.
[Difference from "{knowledge-based system}"?]
(1996-05-29)